1. Reading dapur wawa is like reading someone’s blog. That is how i would describe Ika Madera’s writing. But an interesting one. There’s some drama some issues some heart moving moments some funny. It’s not your typical flowy novel, but really jumpy like a blog. With the recipes included, not much different from some blogs (like yours truly.. Heheh)

2. Since i had started reading Ika Madera’s blog, i know some of the events are based on real life ones and it’s not much different from my own. These parts really moved me, some to tears. The girl can really write sad parts.

3. I love Wawa, the main character because of our similarities – missing our Dads and splurge on the vanilla when cooking. Heheh.

4. Overall, I think Dapur Wawa could be better. But if you want a really light reading and curious about the recipes, (she tells u lots of tips fpr cooking, and i love the cucur roti), DO pick this book.

5. Now i have to go get Jet Jonah because some says it’s nicer and more interesting. I pray Ika Madera the best and won’t fall into the first attempt was the best trap like what happened to M. Night Shyamalan. Keep on writing (novels and Blog Ika Madera), Ms. Ika.

1. On 10.11.2012 we had a little mkn2 at mom’s place for afnan, since he would be circumcized the next day and imran’s 3rd bday on 11.11

2. Afnan was circumsized at the local clinic. I didnt go. Stayed home with baby U. He cried a bit at the clinic and a lot at home.

3. 13.11.12 went to Jusco with Sorfina and baby U. Supposed to go with mr hubby but Little N slept so just the 3 of us. First time going to public place with a carrier and baby U was quiet all the way except in the car, of course.

4. Baby U coughing was bad. She was due for her 2 mth jab anyway, so took her to the paed. Not good.. Had to take the gas thingy.

5. 16.11 was sorfina’s bday but cut cake on 17.11. Mom made a gift shaped cake. Sorfina’s friends whose bday on that saturday came and that was it.

6. 18.11 went to a wedding in Melaka. Had keria and laksa hj jalil and a klebang coconut shake. Awesome.

Unaisah, the latest addition to the family was born on 12 September 2012. About 9 days earlier than the EDD.

What’s so different about Unaisah in comparison to the rest of her siblings?

1. Her blood type is O instead of A like the rest of us
2. Unlike the rest of the kids, she did not arrive over 3kg, but a mere 2.9kg. I know, not much difference.. But compared to the last one of 3.5kg, i found her to be small.
3. She has a dimple!

I wanted to write more but can’t seem to think right now. So i’ll just leave u with a pictire of the gal.

Afnan looooves lava cake.
The easiest one to get is from Dominos Pizza.
But the cake alone is close to RM9.
(Kedekut pulak.. padahal my tall latte costs more than that.. haha)
Anyway, inspired by the recent Masterchef episode recently (no, not the Malaysian version), I decided to try my hand at this. I mean, it only needs 5 ingredients.
It doesn’t need a mixer. And since today Unaisah behaves well (she’s the new addition to the family), I had time.
And succeedeed!! Yeay.. so gave me a reason, purpose to blog… Hahahahaha

Here’s the recipe that I tweaked from here.
(i cut the recipe to one egg).

Molten Lava Cake

2oz of dark chocolate (or any old cooking choc)2 oz butter—-Melt the chocolate over double boiler then add the butterPut aside to cool

1 egg20g sugar——Beat these till bubbly and slight foamy.Add in the chocolate mixture.

10g flour—–Blend into the chocolate mixture.

2 medium size Rameskin—–Grease and flour the rameskin and pour chocolate mixture into rameskin.This mixture is enough for two medium rameskin.Since mine was smaller, it fitted into 3 small rameskin (just enuff for Sorfina, Afnan and I).

Bake in preheated oven for 10mins (15 mins max, else you wouldnt get that lava ooey goeey stuff. Maybe less for smaller rameskin). My oven was set to 180ºC. This slightly higher than the usual temperature I use to bake cakes. What you want is the outer to cook quickly, but the inside stays liquid.

ps: what i love about the recipe is that it is easy to remember. Here’s my train of thought:1 eggDouble oz choc = 2ozButter same as choc = 2ozSugar in gram, but same as above. 20gLast, flour, half of sugar. 10g.Easy, no?

Anyway, maybe this has been a stale issue, and everybody has pointed out their point of view. Am sorry am a bit late about this..

But after reading so many blogs and opinion, I have to state my case too..

About what? About the FIXI – PTS saga.

And the discussion about Bahasa Melayu Rendah / Tinggi.

Ironic isn’t it, that I’m writing this in English..

Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want my writing to be labelled as high/medium/low.. and my opinion has nothing to do with the content of either publisher.

These are my points:

I don’t think it was right, Pn. Ainon. Why?

a. Because she is a publisher herself. And as aware as we all are about competitions, businesses don’t usually go out there and publicly put down your opponent/competition. People will see you as unprofessional and unsporting. Well, that’s how I see it.

b. There are people who respect you. As you would probably be using BMT, I’m sure your attitude should be as towering too.. But this action of yours says the opposite.

c. Being a publisher, she should understand that people’s taste varies. In everything. In music, in food, in fashion, in literature. Just because one thinks that rock music is crap and not art, unlike classical Beethoven, one should not go out there and say that other genre is rubbish and will destruct the nation.

d. And lastly, publishers are out there to make money and give opportunities, to the writers and readers. And they don’t all come from the same mould. So embrace that difference. Malaysia is not that big for any industry. So, let’s support and complement each other.

Remember I once (or twice) blogged about red velvet cake? There are so recipes out there.
But nothing really fits my tastebuds. Until, my birthday last year. Everyone said Anis’ cake was the best.
And I can’t agree less… It’s moist, it’s has that balanced taste of tanginess and cocoa.
But it was on the sweeter side for me. So I decided to try that recipe and altered it according to my taste.
And so, this is what I ended up with:

And little note before we start:

1. This version is a recipe that I altered from Rima’s blog.
2. For this recipe, I separated the egg whites from the yolk, an idea I got from the book, the Undomestic Goddes by Sophie Kinsella. I like the outcome of cakes from this technique as cakes become from fluffy and less dense. But some people prefer rich and dense cake (especially butter cake), so you may not want to use this technique. Or if you’re a LB like me, can just dump the single egg at one go like the original recipe.
3. It is best to use a mixer with a power of 250watt above, so that you don’t have to whip you egg whites forever to achieve the desired result.
4. I prefer to add color to the yogurt / buttermilk because it is less messy.
5. I’ve converted the measurements to metric so that I aim to get the same result everytime. But it’s ok if you want to stick to cups/spoons for quick and easy measure (like the original recipe).
6. This is just the recipe for the cake, not inclusive of the frosting/icing (typically me).

1. Update this blog, regularly.. hopefully.2. Bake a carrot cake, one that I haven’t done for a long time.3. Share a new recipe.

Which, insyaAllah in due time. Till then, here’s a little update:

I had just finished a new book.
Not a birthday present, but coincidentally, it arrived on the eve of my birthday.
Was supposed to receive it wayyy earlier, 3 months ago.
But it never came.
And Allah, He works in mysterious ways.
And here is the book, as a birthday present.

It mentions this blog!
And the writer picked my carrot cake recipe (which i picked from YouTube) of all there are in the whole wide web.. to be printed in this book. (Tapi jadi sedikit berminyak.. which, kalau ikut recipe asal youtube tu mmg ye pon).
Wow, I am that special.. heheheh. (ok, dah berenti berangan.. bukan special pun).

didAt first, I wasn’t too interested in reading. Just wanted to check out that page where Klynnismail is mentioned.
But I started anyway at page 1. Which wasn’t quite appealing.. and continued and on and on.
And I couldn’t put it down and the last page took me by surprise.
The writer, mentioned my name and thanked me, which I didn’t really do anything.

It was so sweet of you, Ika Madera. I am so touched.
This is definitely a memorable birthday.

So unlike other places that I have been. The moment I stepped into the office, I had to run.I was out of breath. Only today I had a moment to deeply inhale.Even then, the ones waiting, couldn’t wait to unload the weight upon me.Hmm.. not that I’m complaining.. I’m okay. Just that, I wasn’t totally prepared.I have to thank my friends around who were there to support me.. in words and in the form of food (for energy).

And at this precise moment that I have the time to clear my old office.I once said this about my office:

And those are the things I am going to miss.I’ll miss its location, right in front of the exit door.I’ll miss its spacious area.I’ll miss the view.I’ll miss the mirror.I’ll miss the glass covering on my desk.And most, I’ll miss it wide window.